Comparing the consumer perception of palatabilty traits of strip loin steaks from young cattle and grain-­‐fed cull cows of varying marbling scores C. M. Arias, SOWER Scholar, D. A. Cashman, T. G. O’Quinn, and M. F. Miller
Texas Tech University, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Lubbock, TX 79409 Introduction Statistical Analysis •  Every year, the price of beef increases because of the cost of cattle production including everything from feed costs to transportation costs. •  Consumers determined steaks of young A maturity to be more tender and had a higher overall acceptability rating than C maturity or greater cattle (Smith et. al., 1982). •  Flavor is considered an important quality characteristic of meat. Feeding cull cows with a high-­‐energy ration of grain will improve the eating experience of mature cattle (Berry et. al., 1980). Objective •  To measure the effects of varying marbling and maturity levels on beef strip loin palatability, determining the impact of feeding cull cows a high energy diet. Materials and Methods •  Trained Texas Tech University personnel selected strip loins (n=150) from a packing plant in Omaha, NE. •  Strip loins consisted on comparing young cattle to mature fed cows, 15 strip loins of A maturity and 15 strip loins of C maturity or greater were selected to correlate to USDA Prime, Top Choice (upper 2/3), Low Choice (lower 1/3), Select, and Standard marbling scores. •  Subprimals were aged 21 d under vacuum at 2-­‐4⁰C. •  All subprimals were cut into 2.5 cm thick steaks and cooked on an open Rlame grill to a medium degree of doneness (71°C). •  Each steak was cut into eight equal parts and served to the panelists. •  Consumers (n=120) were screened for preference of beef and randomly fed one of each of the treatments. •  Each sample was evaluated for tenderness, juiciness, Rlavor identity, Rlavor liking, and overall liking on a 1-­‐10 cm verbally anchored line-­‐scale. •  Acceptability of tenderness, juiciness, Rlavor liking, and overall liking were also rated. Finally, consumers characterized each sample as premium, better than everyday, everyday, or unacceptable quality. •  Statistical analyses were conducted using the procedures of SAS (Version 9.3; SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Treatment comparisons were tested for signiRicance using PROC GLIMMIX with α = 0.05. •  Sensory data was analyzed as a non-­‐factorial to effectively compared interactions across all ten treatments (USDA Marbling Score and Maturity) •  Acceptability data for each palatability trait was analyzed with a model that included a binomial error distribution. 120.00
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
of varying quality treatments
Treatment
Young Prime
Old2 Prime
Young Top Choice
Old2 Top Choice
Young Low Choice
Old2 Low Choice
Young Select
Old2 Select
Young Standard
Old2 Standard
SEM3
P-value
Tenderness
70.90a
59.59bc
66.70ab
55.86c
54.39cd
51.89cd
58.15c
46.26de
53.59cd
42.45e
3.38
<0.0001
Juiciness
66.13a
62.32ab
58.55abc
50.76cde
50.43bcd
52.53bcde
54.33bcd
45.97de
50.67cde
43.42e
3.96
<0.0001
Flavor
63.33a
52.11cd
61.88ab
53.37bc
50.35cde
51.06cd
51.06cd
43.55de
46.24cde
41.63e
3.43
<0.0001
Overall Liking
63.02a
57.39ab
62.68a
54.53b
52.30bc
53.39bc
55.64ab
45.87cd
50.12c
41.79d
2.97
<0.0001
1Sensory scores: 0 = extremely dry/tough/unbeef-­‐like, dislike extremely; 100 = extremely juicy/tender/beef-­‐like, like extremely. 2Old= Strips from C, D, and E maturity cattle with equivalent marbling scores 3SE (largest) of the least squares means. abcdeLeast squares means in the same column without a common superscript differ (P < 0.05). Figure 1. Percentage of beef strip steaks of varying quality and maturity treatment rated as acceptable for juiciness, tenderness,
flavor, and overall liking by consumers (n = 120).
<0.000
a 1
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a
abc
<0.0001
<0.0001
a
<0.0001
a
<0.0001
<0.0001
ab
a abc
<0.0001
ab
abc
bc
b ab
bc abcd
bc
abc
c
bc
bcd
bc
bcde
bcde
cd
abcd
cd
<0.0001
bcd
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de de e d
<0.0001
cd
cde cd cd
<0.0001
e d
e e
20.00
0.00
Young Prime
Mature Prime
Young Top Choice Mature Top Choice
Tenderness
Young Low
Choice
Juiciness
Mature Low
Choice
Flavor
Young Select
Mature Select
Young Standard
Mature Standard
Overall Liking
1Old= Strips from C, D, and E maturity cattle with equivalent marbling scores abcde Percentages in the same column without a common superscript differ (P < 0.05). Conclusion Table 1. Least squares means for consumer ratings1 of the palatability traits of grilled beef strip loin steaks Results •  Mature Prime and Mature Top Choice cattle were rated as good or better than Young USDA Low Choice and Select for consumer acceptability and tenderness. •  With further research, cull cows can effectively be marketed to consumers and in the food service industry References Berry, B. W., J. A. Maga, C. R. Calkins, L. H. Wells, Z. L. Carpenter, and H. R. Cross. "Flavor proRile analyses of cooked beef loin steaks." Journal of Food Science 45.5 (1980): 1113-­‐1115. Smith, G. C., H. R. Cross, Z. L. Carpenter, C. E. Murphey, J. W. Savell, H. C. Abraham, and G. W. Davis. "Relationship of USDA maturity groups to palatability of cooked beef." Journal of Food Science 47.4 (1982): 1100-­‐1107.